


The Way We Love

by thejillyfish



Category: Durarara!!
Genre: F/M, Fluff, M/M, Shameless OTP Gushing, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-10
Updated: 2014-09-10
Packaged: 2018-02-16 19:50:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2282442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thejillyfish/pseuds/thejillyfish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The ways we love can be subtle, obvious, dangerous, beautiful, physical. There's no one way to love, nor should there be.</p><p>Celty observes the inner workings of her best friend's new relationship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Way We Love

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a while since I've had time to write, so I used this as a method to kind of get my mojo back and kind of fuel my OTP fire. Hopefully it worked. Guess we'll find out!
> 
> Sorry in advance if there's like mad spelling errors. I'm posting this from my class, so I'm too distracted to look it over. I'll come back later and check everything!

**00**

Celty loved Shizuo as her best friend, and she had loved him that way for many years.

Their relationship stemmed from a mutual respect and curiosity. Two monsters in their own right, who found a slight sense of serenity in each other’s company. Together, they could confine parts of themselves in each other that they could not dare to divulge to anyone else in their lives.

Over the years, it had grown into an affectionate camaraderie. Celty seemed not to provoke those habitual bouts of violence that Shizuo so often displayed, and Shizuo in turn seemed content in having a friend whose head had long fallen from her shoulders.

Celty knew what it was like to be a monster. Unlike Shizuo, she was a creature of myth and lore trying to live in harmony with a real society. She was a headless rider, a dark figure of children’s nightmares. And Shizuo could sympathize. He was supposed to be all human, one hundred percent human. Sired by a mortal, birthed by a mortal, and living with a mortal soul. Yet he was also a source of fear for other humans around him.

They were cursed that way, but blessed in each other’s empathetic company.

Shizuo wouldn’t admit it, and he probably wasn’t even aware of it, but Shizuo had the biggest heart of anyone Celty had ever met. Celty was lucky enough to be one of the few he let inside of it. She loved Shizuo’s simple nature. He wanted to protect everyone he loved and destroy everything he hated.

Which is why he surprised Celty so much when he happened to fall in love with someone that he despised.

**01**

Shizuo and Izaya loved each other in ways that Celty had yet to understand.

They hadn’t given her enough warning. But that probably wouldn’t have mattered. They could have had a romantic build up lasting month, Shizuo could have had dozens of conversations with her about how “Celty, I think I’m in love with Izaya,” they could have gone through Hell to be with each other.

None of that was important, in the end.

To her, time seemed like one day they were trying to kill each other, the next day they were holding hands down the street. Not that they did that, thank God.

What mattered was that Shizuo and Izaya were together now. Just like that.

Like they had kept one eye closed on each other this whole time. Or maybe they had closed off a part of themselves. Then their eyes were open. Fully, clearly, resolutely.

And it had been so quick. Subtle, like a wink.

She had expected Shizuo to fall in love eventually. With someone. Hopefully. She had not expected that person to be his self-declared arch nemesis.

Shinra tried to tell her that it all made sense, when you thought about it. Not to Celty. Shinra said that there a certain truth to “opposites attract,” and that they were good for each other. They were created to balance each other out. Shizuo had all the warmness and Izaya was a spark to kindle a fire.

He said, “Hey! At least now they’re not fighting all the time, right?”

Celty pondered on all of that for a while. While it was true that ever since the two became a unit, Izaya was less of a horrible boil on the face of the Earth and Shizuo was a bit more sociable, they still had their fair share of quarrels. She often caught them bickering as she drove past them. When she stopped to listen, it often over the most trivial of things.

Like which movie they were going to watch, where they were going to eat, the fastest route home, or just about nothing in particular.

It was like even when they didn’t hate each other, they still existed to challenge one another.

Maybe it was always a challenge to be more human.

**02**

They loved each other in all of the subtle kind of ways

Celty took up the hobby of watching them together. The way they walked together, talked together, ate together, lived together.

When they walked somewhere together, Izaya usually led them by a few steps. Shizuo wore a reluctant expression but his pace remained quick in Izaya’s wake. They rarely walked in silence. When they would pass Celty, she could hear them having one of their inane quarrels or hear Izaya talking generously about nothing in particular.

They’d dropped other habits. Shizuo smoked less. Celty wondered if he’d stopped because Izaya vocalized some disdain for the addiction or if Shizuo simply needed less of them, because Izaya’s company eased away some of the stress that cigarettes had relieved.

Then there was the way they looked at each other. That was Celty’s favorite, he realized with embarrassment one day. Shizuo had a lot of trouble looking anywhere other than Izaya.

One time, she had gone to Izaya’s office to drop something off, and Shizuo had been there. Izaya had been deep into something, pacing back and forth, pouring over files and blueprints. As she left the envelope with Shizuo, Celty never made eye contact with him. He was too busy watching Izaya’s animated enthusiasm for his work.

Celty summed up that Izaya wasn’t ruining anyone’s life that day, or else Shizuo would not have watched him with so much fondness.

Celty soon discovered Shizuo’s almost annoying habit of standing in between Izaya and other people. No matter who it was. Whether armed thugs or harmless school kids, acted like a barrier. And you wouldn’t even realize. Celty wasn’t even sure Izaya realized. Probably, since Izaya noticed everything. He wouldn’t stand directly in front of Izaya. He’d position himself strategically in a way that if any trouble were to arise, he’d be there like a human shield.

Then, after a while, Celty realized that she couldn’t be sure whether Shizuo was guarding his boyfriend from potential threats or innocent bystanders from his poisonous boyfriend.

There were days they looked each other and Celty thought for sure, _this is it, they’re finally going to erupt_. Those days most likely ended with a familiar chase through the city. Then, whether it was the next day or a week later, they were back to walking heel-to-toe again.

**03**

They loved each other in ways that were bright and blinding.

The man had lived with a permanent sneer at the expense of others. It was an expression that earned him a lot of disdain from the population.

Since Izaya had fallen in love with Shizuo, that appearance had melted away from his visage and been replaced by a strikingly genuine smile. A smile that lit up Izaya’s entire face, a smile that dented his cheeks and creased around his eyes. Such a smile was rare amongst humans.

Now it was a common glint in Izaya’s eyes. Celty was only graced with its entire glory when she shared Shizuo’s presence.

She used to believe that Izaya only found mirth in others’ suffering and his own cleverness. In his relationship with Shizuo, though, Izaya appeared to find as much humor in life as he did devastation. Turns out, Izaya is very easy to smile, to laugh.

That was the killer, that laugh.

A trill, unapologetic guffaw that shimmered down into chittering little chortle. Celty remembers the coarse, bitter cackle that escaped Izaya’s lungs so often when he was a loner and much prefers this more jovial kookaburra sound.

That’s not to say Izaya didn’t still slip into a cold smirk now and then. Of course, he was Izaya Orihara, considerably smarter than average human being, and he knew that very well. All of the wrong things in life brought him a certain amusement. The difference, now, was that Shizuo would rake his arm over Izaya’s face in disapproval, and Izaya would titter mercifully without another comment.

Out of the two of them, Celty believed that Izaya had changed the most.

Once, she’d typed out her admiration and gratitude for Shizuo’s effect on Izaya. Because certainly, it was Shizuo’s influence that had enacted this agreeable change in Izaya’s disposition. Except when Celty said so, Shizuo vehemently denied it.

“I’d want nothing to do with him if he hadn’t stopped being such a little shit all on his own. I had nothing to do with it.”

That’s when Celty remembered both Shinra and Izaya saying that if there ever came a time when Izaya wanted to be a decent person, he could easily do so. It didn’t seem so easy, saying it like that. But the more Celty saw Izaya radiating that new smile in Shizuo’s company, the more it seemed possible. Izaya could have finally realized there was less in being alone, and consciously decided to change. Maybe he had gotten sick of loving Shizuo in ways that were black and binding.

**04**

They loved each other in ways that were dangerous and horrifying.

Naturally, they were not the most public about their relationship. Tokyo already regarded the two of them as two of the biggest attractions in its freak show. Enemies surrounded both of them, enemies that they’d rather not have to subjugate to the other. They weren’t interested in adding fuel to the fire.

But when they weren’t actively trying to each other for a while, gossip spread, word got out, the wildfire started.

On the bright side, neither man was exactly defenseless. Most civilians were wise enough to leave them alone. No one wanted to get on the bad side of what was now Tokyo’s Most Terrifying Couple. Except, of course, the ones without brains.

Certain idiots had the gaul to throw out slurs and lude threats as the men passed by. Whether the punks ended up halfway across the block with a broken shoulder or ran home crying with his pants snipped from his waist depended on the day. Most of them gave up after hearing Shizuo’s knuckles crack or listening to Izaya talk long enough. However, even the small instances did their damages.

 _How exhausting_ , Celty thought, _to have your heart ridiculed like tha_ t.

Izaya had more patience, though, and more experience with absorbing verbal abuse. He’d gotten used to them and believed most of them. Celty had known Izaya for almost as long as she had Shinra. He had been a pitiful child. He had been lonesome and lost. As an adult, Izaya never earned Celty’s pity like he used to. Not until she began witnessing how he handled verbal harassment. She would have preferred if he got as angry as Shizuo did. Anything would have been less unnerving than the complacent, unbothered attitude Izaya gave.

This was most likely why remarks towards Izaya infuriated Shizuo far more than the jabs at himself.

Ironically, it reminded Celty of how Shizuo would react when Izaya would talk about Kasuka.

Every now and then, some poor sap would taunt Shizuo about Izaya. Usually they were Izaya’s own enemies. They weren’t necessarily looking for a rise out of Shizuo, either. No, they just weren’t thinking when they offered comments crude enough to make Celty want to shower afterwards.

All of these blokes ended up in the hospital.

At least Shizuo’s vengeance was straightforward. Sometimes Shinra would get a patient who had suffered a so-called terrible accident. Celty would recognize the patient as a thug who had, one way or another, given Shizuo a hard time, either to his face or behind the scenes.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Izaya would say. “Pianos fall on people all the time.”

They were the Monster and the Informant, walking around with targets on the back of their heads. Izaya always had his ear to the ground. Shizuo was always looking over Izaya’s head.

**05**

They loved each other in a physical kind of way.

Public Displays of Affection weren’t really their thing. Not in the gratuitous way that made bystanders uncomfortable. They were more about the subtle ways that Celty had begun to mentally list:

Shizuo’s featherlight hand on Izaya’s hip, that lingered shortly before disappearing back into a pocket, Izaya’s tendency to grab Shizuo by the arm and lead him somewhere he wouldn’t have to thought to go on his own, the way they would step into each other’s space without a second thought, the looks they would give each other that would communicate a silent message that Celty felt a bit jealous for missing out on.

Izaya liked to poke and jab at Shizuo, like he was trying to wake a dragon. Instead of chasing him off, Shizuo would grab both of Izaya’s hands and keep them captive until his boyfriend settled down.

If they were in the same room, there was almost a guarantee that they were touching. Whether their arms were magnetted together, had their arms around the other’s waist or shoulder, or meaningless, playful touches here and there, you could always find a part of their bodies connected to one another.

Then there were the obvious ways of which the public only saw the after effects. Bruises on their necks, blushes in their cheeks, a mess of their hair, yesterday’s clothes……

They loved each other in a physical way, to an extent that Celty was probably better off not knowing.

**06**

They loved each other in a silent kind of way.

Celty never heard of them say a straightforward “I love you.” She wondered if they ever said it in private. She didn’t think so. That wasn’t how they worked. Everything about them was abnormal. Normal couples said “I love you.” They might have loved each other, but they knew it without saying so.

They knew it from the subtle ways. They knew it from the new smiles only for each other. They knew it from how they fought for one another. They knew it from playful gestures. They knew it in a long series of ways that Celty might not ever understand.

But she could understand that love doesn’t require comprehension. She couldn’t make sense of her own love most of the time.

She shared in their unspoken rule to never address the oddity of their relationship directly, or else it might just occur to everyone that none of this made any sense. But after a while, she thought to herself, that it did make all the sense in the world.

Shinra had been right all along, and that might have been one of the reasons that Celty could love him.


End file.
